NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The right frame can freeze a moment in time, creating meaning for the masses from a fist pump over a bloodied ear, a bridge crumbled by a ship, towns shredded by nature, and a victory sealed with an on-field kiss.
In 2024, photographers across the U.S. captured glimpses of humanity, ranging from a deeply divisive presidential election, to hurricanes and fires that ravaged communities, to campus protests over the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
The gallery from The Associated Press illustrates a new chapter of political history — the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, the moment President Joe Biden announced he would no longer run again, the campaign sprint by Vice President Kamala Harris in Biden’s place, and the raw emotion from voters during a grueling contest ultimately won by Trump.
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Hurricanes whipped through the country with devastating imagery, leaving a path of wreckage and death from Florida to Appalachia. After Hurricane Helene, Lake Lure in North Carolina was shown in a jarring photo covered in shards of debris thick enough to hide the surface of the water. Hurricane Milton ripped apart the roof of Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, home to Major League Baseball’s Tampa Bay Rays.
The scale of destruction experienced in some corners of the country in 2024 was hard to capture and might have been harder to fathom. That was the case when a container ship slammed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, causing it to collapse and crumple around the vessel, killing construction workers on the bridge.
As flames torched the landscape in California, another image captured firefighters and sheriff’s deputies pushing a vintage car away from a burning home. Elsewhere in California, one photo is aglow with bright orange flames, broken up only by the subtle features of an animal running through them.
But hope also persevered in the face of devastation. In Helene’s aftermath, an image from Crystal River, Florida, shows Dustin Holmes holding hands with his girlfriend, Hailey Morgan, as they sloshed through floodwaters with her 4- and 7-year-old children to return to their flooded home. And in Manasota Key, Florida, a family was lit up by the glow of flashlights as they walked to check on their home damaged by Milton.
Other photos from 2024 also grabbed the darkness and shadows to emphasize light: among them, a rocket liftoff and a total solar eclipse. And, yes, eclipse glasses were back in style for a shared moment of skygazing.
But many other photos delivered a blast of color, from the spectrum of the northern lights across a Maine sky to a crew of workers wading into the deep-red of a Massachusetts cranberry bog.
And, once again, Taylor Swift captured the country’s attention, even as a part of the crowd. She rushed down from the stands to kiss her boyfriend, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, after the Chiefs won the AFC Championship, en route to another Super Bowl win.
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is surrounded by U.S. Secret Service agents at a campaign rally, Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
A supporter greets Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump after a campaign event at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Joe Biden pauses before he addresses the nation from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, July 24, 2024, about his decision to drop his Democratic presidential reelection bid. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, Pool)
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris looks at a monitor of the event from backstage, just before taking the stage for her final campaign rally, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Elon Musk jumps on the stage as Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Supporters of Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump look on as a bus carrying Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris passes by following a campaign event, Sunday, Aug. 18, 2024, in Rochester, Pa. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
A voter watches the stage before former first lady Michelle Obama speaks at campaign rally in support of Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024, in College Park, Ga. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump pumps his fist as he is helped off the stage at a campaign event in Butler, Pa., on Saturday, July 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Supporters watch returns at a campaign election night watch party for Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at the Palm Beach Convention Center, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
A young girl holds a “Black Voters for Harris-Walz” sign outside of Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris’ election night watch party at Howard University, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Terrance Williams)
Georgian migrant Nani smiles as she thanks a U.S. volunteer, speaking between gaps in one of the border walls separating Tijuana, Mexico, and San Diego, as she waits to apply for asylum with U.S. authorities, Friday, April 12, 2024, seen from San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be attorney general, former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., closes a door to a private meeting with Vice President-elect JD Vance and Republican Senate Judiciary Committee members, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Debris is strewn on the lake in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, in Lake Lure, N.C. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris walks toward reporters to speak before boarding Air Force Two, as she departs Las Vegas from Harry Reid International Airport, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, en route to Arizona. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Asylum-seeking migrants wrap themselves in blankets to ward off the wind and rain as they line up in a makeshift, mountainous campsite to be processed after crossing the border with Mexico, Friday, Feb. 2, 2024, near Jacumba Hot Springs, Calif. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Gus Walz cries as his father, Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, speaks during the Democratic National Convention Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris hugs a child after speaking during a campaign event at Washington Crossing Historic Park, in Washington Crossing, Pa., Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
A telephone pole burns from the Smokehouse Creek Fire, Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024, in Canadian, Texas. (AP Photo/David Erickson)
Former President Donald Trump speaks before entering the courtroom at Manhattan criminal court, Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
Argentina’s President Javier Milei poses for pictures after ringing the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Restaurant workers in the Flatiron district of Manhattan take a break to view the solar eclipse, Monday, April 8, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
Taylor Swift kisses Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce after an AFC Championship NFL football game against the Baltimore Ravens, Sunday, Jan. 28, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
A race fan walks though the stands at Churchill Downs before the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby horse race Saturday, May 4, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
Iowa guard Caitlin Clark (22) celebrates after defeating LSU in an Elite Eight round college basketball game during the NCAA Tournament, Monday, April 1, 2024, in Albany, N.Y. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
Navajo horsewomen circle pass a volleyball during the Western Navajo Fair in Tuba City, Ariz., Friday, Oct. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off in this time-exposure photo, from Launch Pad 39A Sunday, March 3, 2024, at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)
The moon covers the sun during a total solar eclipse, as seen from Fort Worth, Texas, Monday, April 8, 2024. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
Hunter Biden steps into a vehicle as he leaves federal court, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024, in Los Angeles, after pleading guilty to federal tax charges. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)
Wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge rests on the container ship Dali, Wednesday, April 3, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
The roof of Tropicana Field is damaged the morning after Hurricane Milton hit the region, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
The northern lights flare in the sky over a farmhouse, late Friday, May 10, 2024, in Brunswick, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Firefighters and sheriff’s deputies push a vintage car away from a burning home as the Mountain Fire burns in Camarillo, Calif., on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
A family who went to check on their storm-damaged home uses flashlights to walk back up a sand-coated street, currently open only to pedestrians and vehicles involved in the recovery effort, on Manasota Key, Fla., as night falls, Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
President-elect Donald Trump arrives to speak during an America First Policy Institute gala at his Mar-a-Lago estate, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Grand Marshal Dakota Meyer, U.S. Marine Corps, a Medal of Honor recipient, waves from a car during the annual Veterans Day Parade, Monday, Nov. 11, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
People sing the National Anthem during the third day of 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum, Wednesday, July 17, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Fans interfere with a foul ball caught by Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder Mookie Betts during the first inning in Game 4 of the baseball World Series against the New York Yankees, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Inter Miami striker Shanyder Borgelin competes for the ball against DC United left wing back Pedro Santos during the second half of an MLS soccer match at Audi Field, Saturday, March 16, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard)
Mark Zuckerberg wears a pair of Orion AR glasses during the Meta Connect conference Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024, in Menlo Park, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
Rebecca Kimmel is seen reflected in her artwork depicting twins at her home Saturday, Feb. 3, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
A mourner stands at the casket of slain airman Roger Fortson during his funeral at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, Friday, May 17, 2024, near Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
A tattered American flag flaps outside a home as furniture and household items damaged by Hurricane Helene flooding sit piled along the street awaiting pickup, ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Milton, in Holmes Beach on Anna Maria Island, Fla., Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
A helicopter beams a light on the tip of the fuel tanks of NASA’s retired Space Shuttle Endeavour at the future Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center in Los Angeles, Friday, Feb. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Police break through a barrier set up by pro-Palestinian demonstrators on the UCLA campus Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Debris is visible through the window of a damaged home following severe storms Friday, March 15, 2024, in Lakeview, Ohio. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)
Florence Pugh arrives at the Oscars on Sunday, March 10, 2024, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Workers position floating booms while wet harvesting cranberries at Rocky Meadow Bog, Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, in Middleborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Students try to prevent the Gaza Solidarity Encampment from taking over Hamilton Hall at Columbia University on Tuesday, April 30, in New York. (Marco Postigo Storel via AP)
Dustin Holmes, second from right, holds hands with his girlfriend, Hailey Morgan, while returning to their flooded home with her children Aria Skye Hall, 7, right, and Kyle Ross, 4, in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024, in Crystal River, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)
An animal runs through grass while fleeing flames as the Park Fire tears through the Cohasset community in Butte County, Calif., on Thursday, July 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
